ALL consolidated SMRT/NEL/KT.. simisai BREAKDOWNS here!

[Mustank]

Maybe the higher management pay themselves pretty well..anyway..give them some time..they are...as they say...still working on it...

 

why put the mechs on the posters?

because no one will blame the poorly paid mechs

he is just a commoner like you and me

why not the ceo?

use the mechs as deflection?

when got abit if improvement, straightaway press conference, give award?

[Wyfitms]

They are the one who created this huge problem and yet now they are telling us they are still working on it? So as a commuters, we have to suffer for don't know how long before they can rectify the deep sh1it that they have created!

 

my guess is we will be in the mess for a long long time. Very clear to me when LTY decided to quit. He probably see no solution. 

 

it is also a joke that their latest PR campaign is to emphasize that they are working on the problems and giving us personal details about names of their employees and place of residence? Is it supposed to generate some sort of sympathy from me that the employees are also human beings or my neighbour? 

 

senior management trying to shift the blame to their rank and file workers? why dont they post CEO's NRIC and full address and home telephone number on the posters. Maybe i will feel less angry with the breakdowns 

[13177]

my guess is we will be in the mess for a long long time. Very clear to me when LTY decided to quit. He probably see no solution. 

 

it is also a joke that their latest PR campaign is to emphasize that they are working on the problems and giving us personal details about names of their employees and place of residence? Is it supposed to generate some sort of sympathy from me that the employees are also human beings or my neighbour? 

 

senior management trying to shift the blame to their rank and file workers? why dont they post CEO's NRIC and full address and home telephone number on the posters. Maybe i will feel less angry with the breakdowns 

Precisely, we have to endure the mess that they have created, and yet those high position like the CEO still get pay million of dollars! Nowadays always make me angry whenever i take their hopeless train.

[inlinesix]

my guess is we will be in the mess for a long long time. Very clear to me when LTY decided to quit. He probably see no solution. 

 

it is also a joke that their latest PR campaign is to emphasize that they are working on the problems and giving us personal details about names of their employees and place of residence? Is it supposed to generate some sort of sympathy from me that the employees are also human beings or my neighbour? 

 

senior management trying to shift the blame to their rank and file workers? why dont they post CEO's NRIC and full address and home telephone number on the posters. Maybe i will feel less angry with the breakdowns 

 

I gave up hope that there will be less breakdown on the 2 oldest line.

 

I can always rely on Brommie to commute to work.

[Mustank]

eh eh eh.........

don't comprain

[Wt_know]

profit optimization vs service excellence maximization

 

so, which one in more important?

Edited November 26, 2015 by Wt_know

[Ktglfc]

profit optimization vs service excellence maximization

 

so, which one in more important?

 

$ in pocket the most important

 

Anyway, looks like we will have to tahan this for a couple of years ... tahan the breakdowns as well as tahan the huge bonus $ into the pockets...

Edited November 26, 2015 by Ktglfc

[Count-Bracula]

why put the mechs on the posters?

because no one will blame the poorly paid mechs

he is just a commoner like you and me

why not the ceo?

use the mechs as deflection?

when got abit if improvement, straightaway press conference, give award?

yalah! at least have the CEO in the poster shining torch at the underside of the train carriage . . kah ho kwah mah . . . .

[Blueray]

when train pai they will notify on Twitter ... is this really an effective platform for getting critical information across ?

 

I am one of those who does not have Twitter a/c.

[inlinesix]

when train pai they will notify on Twitter ... is this really an effective platform for getting critical information across ?

 

I am one of those who does not have Twitter a/c.

 

How do you define effective platform or not?

 

Most ppl on this island has Twitter or FB account le.

 

In addition, LTA also announce it via MyTransport app.

 

Lastly, i would expect breakdown is announced via Radio/TV.

[Mercs]

Cause for concern? Electric sparks spotted as train travels on tracks near Ang Mo Kio MRT station

http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/this-urban-jungle/cause-for-concern-electric-sparks-spotted-at-tracks-which-train-is-travelling-on

[Blueray]

wah, MRT now got flux capacitor.

[13177]

Cause for concern? Electric sparks spotted as train travels on tracks near Ang Mo Kio MRT station

http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/this-urban-jungle/cause-for-concern-electric-sparks-spotted-at-tracks-which-train-is-travelling-on

Don't worry, they are working on it. Lol.

[keanie]

when train pai they will notify on Twitter ... is this really an effective platform for getting critical information across ?

 

I am one of those who does not have Twitter a/c.

Haha. I also don't have. Remember d old days when I was carrying a pager, important or not important report also received alert. Damm stressful.

[Blueray]

Haha. I also don't have. Remember d old days when I was carrying a pager, important or not important report also received alert. Damm stressful.

 

esp when the person who pah pager end with "999" 

[Mercs]

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/worrying-pattern-cannot-be-ignored

Train disruptions in Singapore: Worrying pattern cannot be ignored

 

Christopher Tan

The Straits Times

26 November 2015

 

Wednesday's (Nov 25) rail disruption along the North-South Line, which affected tens of thousands of commuters during the morning peak, is worrying on two counts.

 

First, it involved yet another electrical fire. Fires in a mass transit system, no matter how small, can have catastrophic consequences. And there has been one too many recently.

 

Earlier this year, a circuit-breaker fire shut down the Bukit Panjang LRT system for a day.

 

In 2013, a short-circuit fire broke out near Newton, engulfing the station in smoke and disrupting service for two hours in the morning peak.

 

In 2004, a fire broke out in the tunnel near Newton, apparently also caused by a short circuit.

 

Wednesday's fire on the North-South Line was said to have been ignited by a flashover at a tie-breaker (a kind of circuit breaker) in Ang Mo Kio MRT station.

 

The blaze was put out by the Singapore Civil Defence Force at 5.50am.

 

A flashover is an unintended discharge of current, which can leap across voids. It can happen when a system is stressed with a higher-than-usual electrical load.

 

Was the system under a higher-than-usual load, with additional trains and newer and heavier ones? SMRT would not comment.

 

There was a strong suspicion that a heavier-than-usual electrical load had caused the Bukit Panjang LRT fire.

 

On the other hand, Wednesday's incident happened before service started for the day, so load could not have been the likely cause.

 

According to the Land Transport Authority (LTA), disruptions caused by power and trackside faults more than doubled between 2011 and last year.

 

In 2011, they accounted for eight incidents or 2 per cent of all disruptions. Last year, they were responsible for 16 incidents or 5 per cent of incidents.

 

The unprecedented networkwide breakdown on July 7 this year was also caused by an electrical fault - although there was no fire.

 

Why is the system experiencing such a surge in electrical faults? If this electrical problem is not tackled, a tunnel fire might one day happen with serious consequences.

 

The second worrying thing about Wednesday's breakdown was what the LTA chief executive said in its aftermath.

 

Mr Chew Men Leong, talking to reporters at Ang Mo Kio station on Wednesday morning, described the incident as a "localised" one.

 

Although Mr Chew was speaking off the cuff, the comment downplays the gravity of the situation unnecessarily.

 

Rail breakdowns are rarely "localised", unless it is a glitch on the Sentosa monorail.

 

A breakdown on an MRT line, which can account for one million trips a day, impacts not just people in a particular stretch.

 

It affects commuters both upstream and downstream of the affected stretch. In fact, it can reverberate across the entire rail network, as transfers are disrupted and train platforms become overcrowded - often in an instant.

 

It impacts bus commuters, taxi availability and road traffic as affected commuters spill out of stations onto the streets in search of transport alternatives.

 

A rail breakdown - especially during peak hours - easily impacts tens of thousands of people. A country's productivity is affected as a consequence, not to mention students who are late for exams.

 

What Mr Chew said on Wednesday morning about SMRT being able to recover from the situation quickly was spot on, though.

 

City-bound trains on the North-South Line were running at intervals as short as one minute after the incident. This was possible because drivers overrode the system and drove the trains manually.

 

This helped to clear the crowd quickly. Checks by The Straits Times at Bishan interchange found that trains went from fully packed at 9.15am to having ample standing room by 9.30am.

 

Trains on the adjoining Circle Line were running at intervals of as short as two minutes, even though the electronic notice board said four.

 

That helped to dissipate the crowd on the platform that was filled continuously by people transferring from the North-South Line.

 

In this instance, it is clear the operator managed its recovery process well, and that mitigated the impact of the breakdown somewhat.

 

The challenge is, of course, to prevent a repeat of such breakdowns. Although the number of breakdowns can never be zero, the rising incidence of electrical faults and fires forms a worrying pattern that cannot be ignored.

 

The second worrying thing about Wednesday's breakdown was what the LTA chief executive said in its aftermath.

 

Mr Chew Men Leong, talking to reporters at Ang Mo Kio station on Wednesday morning, described the incident as a "localised" one.

 

Although Mr Chew was speaking off the cuff, the comment downplays the gravity of the situation unnecessarily.

 

Rail breakdowns are rarely "localised", unless it is a glitch on the Sentosa monorail.

 

A breakdown on an MRT line, which can account for one million trips a day, impacts not just people in a particular stretch.

 

It affects commuters both upstream and downstream of the affected stretch. In fact, it can reverberate across the entire rail network, as transfers are disrupted and train platforms become overcrowded - often in an instant.

 

It impacts bus commuters, taxi availability and road traffic as affected commuters spill out of stations onto the streets in search of transport alternatives.

 

A rail breakdown - especially during peak hours - easily impacts tens of thousands of people. A country's productivity is affected as a consequence, not to mention students who are late for exams.

 

What Mr Chew said on Wednesday morning about SMRT being able to recover from the situation quickly was spot on, though.

 

City-bound trains on the North-South Line were running at intervals as short as one minute after the incident. This was possible because drivers overrode the system and drove the trains manually.

 

This helped to clear the crowd quickly. Checks by The Straits Times at Bishan interchange found that trains went from fully packed at 9.15am to having ample standing room by 9.30am.

 

Trains on the adjoining Circle Line were running at intervals of as short as two minutes, even though the electronic notice board said four. That helped to dissipate the crowd on the platform that was filled continuously by people transferring from the North-South Line.

 

In this instance, it is clear the operator managed its recovery process well, and that mitigated the impact of the breakdown somewhat.

 

The challenge is, of course, to prevent a repeat of such breakdowns. Although the number of breakdowns can never be zero, the rising incidence of electrical faults and fires forms a worrying pattern that cannot be ignored.

[Yewheng]

My gut feel is that they keep buy newer trains that are heavier by each new batch. Imagine passenger load had been increasing since 1980s when the mrt was 1St completed and with the increased in train weight. Wa lao eh, the load that the track need to take will increase tremendously.

 

Don't know is it because of the combination of passenger load plus the weight of the newer train that cause the surge in the power as it need more power to keep the train moving that causes the cable to melt? I no expert here. But common sense also know that when weight increase, it will need more power to accelerate as compared to the lighter object.

 

The increase in train weight for newer batch is not very little, it's infact big increase sia, remember reading an article the increase in train weight for the newer batch is about 1/3 of passenger load or somewhere along that line.

 

Another scenario I can think of is that the track is infested with rats, rats go bite the cable and the cable was not fully bitten off, so this results in sparks and higher then normal resistance that causes the cable to melt.

Edited November 28, 2015 by Yewheng

[Spring]

My gut feel is that they keep buy newer trains that are heavier by each new batch. Imagine passenger load had been increasing since 1980s when the mrt was 1St completed and with the increased in train weight. Wa lao eh, the load that the track need to take will increase tremendously.

 

Don't know is it because of the combination of passenger load plus the weight of the newer train that cause the surge in the power as it need more power to keep the train moving that causes the cable to melt? I no expert here. But common sense also know that when weight increase, it will need more power to accelerate as compared to the lighter object.

 

The increase in train weight for newer batch is not very little, it's infact big increase sia, remember reading an article the increase in train weight for the newer batch is about 1/3 of passenger load or somewhere along that line.

 

Another scenario I can think of is that the track is infested with rats, rats go bite the cable and the cable was not fully bitten off, so this results in sparks and higher then normal resistance that causes the cable to melt.

You have some interesting theories which are very possible esp the weight one.

That said, those engineers at SMRT/SBS transit should know better n if this is proven they should be shot for sure, hopefully they are reading this or someone pointed out to them this very simple theory for them to put it to bed by proving this is not the case as Khaw has already advocated the engineers to be more street smart!